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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25266568">One Big Happy Family</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/annie174/pseuds/annie174'>annie174</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:27:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,818</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25266568</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/annie174/pseuds/annie174</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stuck in the house with one husband, one father, 2 kids under 3 and a large dog -- Veronica Mars wonders at her life. A series of quarantine scenes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>98</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Not the Flu</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello!  So, for the past couple months I have been writing snippets of life in quarantine for Logan &amp; Veronica post The Orion Protocol.  You do not have to have read OP, but you need to know -- Logan did not die in the S4 plot hole explosion, he went dark for a year for the Navy during which Veronica visited him in exotic lands, they now have 2 kids, Sydney is a little over 2 in this story and Calliope is 10 months old. Logan has retired from the Navy.  I picked this universe for my quarantine fic, because it should provide some good family fun and it was a universe in which Logan would not be called up to help with the global pandemic.  Hope you enjoy!  I write this sporadically but will update when I can!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Late February</p>
<p>“We could go online,” Veronica said to her dad over Skype, “just do cyber stuff.  Even without Mac we can make a living for however long this thing lasts.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know honey, PI work has always been boots on the ground kind of stuff,” Keith made a face.</p>
<p>“Logan has inside intel from his old Navy buddies, they are going to start shutting things down next week.  Non-essential businesses, and let’s face it, we are non-essential and they might even cancel March Madness, which will kill Wallace,” Veronica had Calliope asleep on her shoulder and Logan was out back with Sydney and Pony.</p>
<p>“Is it really that serious? I heard it was just the flu.”</p>
<p>“Not just the flu,” Veronica shook her head, “I think you should come here and shelter in place with us.”</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t want to get the kids sick, what if I’ve been exposed?” Keith frowned.</p>
<p>“Logan and I discussed that; we can stock the pool house.  It is not super comfortable, but for 2 weeks you could stay out there and when you are past the two weeks you can move into your regular 5-star accommodations,” Veronica smirked.</p>
<p>Keith had a bedroom and bathroom suite in the house for Grandpa sleepovers, as far away from Logan and Veronica’s bedroom as physically possible.</p>
<p>“There is a fridge and a microwave out there and we could bring you cooked food and leave it for you, we have been pretty much here with only one quick trip to the grocery store and pharmacy over the past 2 weeks.  We have set up food delivery on the regular and we would both feel better if you were here with us. One big happy family,” Veronica tilted her head sideways and that was the end of the discussion.</p>
<p>Her next call was to Mac to help transfer all the phones and coms to the house.</p>
<p>“You OK over there?” Veronica asked.</p>
<p>Mac was still working with the Navy even though Logan wasn’t, and she was currently stationed in London.</p>
<p>“I was made for this,” she shrugged, “stay inside, don’t interact with people, play video games, eat canned spaghetti.”</p>
<p>“And the nerds shall inherit the earth,” Veronica laughed as Calliope stirred.</p>
<p>“Hey Cali,” Mac smiled at the sleepy 10-month-old baby.</p>
<p>“Say hi to Auntie Mac,” Veronica encouraged as Cali wiped at her eyes.</p>
<p>“Ha,” the baby attempted and waved by scrunching her hand open and closed.</p>
<p>“Hello, beautiful,” Mac cooed.</p>
<p>“You two make cute kids. You already pregnant again?” Mac teased Veronica who already had 2 kids under the age of 3.</p>
<p>“Nooooo, we took care of that little problem.  Well, Logan did,” Veronica smirked.</p>
<p>“Ouch,” Mac sympathized.</p>
<p>“He recovered fine. Trust me, he is back in prime shape,” Veronica bobbed her eyebrows.</p>
<p>“Ewww.  That is good though, if you guys are going to be locked down for any length of time.”</p>
<p>“I think the 2 small children, the dog, the new fish tank and oh, my dad, will be enough of a cock block…”</p>
<p>Mac just rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you’re right, probably for the best,” Veronica nodded.</p>
<p>“I stayed with you guys for 3 weeks and I saw and heard more than I ever ever wanted to,” Mac shook her head.</p>
<p>“What can I say, I am hot for my husband,” Veronica shrugged.</p>
<p>“Well, that’s good to hear,” Logan caught the end of that.</p>
<p>“Hey Logan,” Mac waved.</p>
<p>“Da!” Calliope reached up.</p>
<p>Logan traded Sydney for Calliope and gave Mac a wink.</p>
<p>“How’s it hanging, Mackenzie?” he said as he cuddled the younger of his two daughters.  Sydney was a dynamo in constant motion, but Cali was a cuddler.</p>
<p>“Mackie!” Sydney leaned forward and put both her hands on the laptop screen.</p>
<p>“Sydney!” Mac air kissed the toddler.</p>
<p>“I thought you were talking to your dad?” Logan nudged Veronica over on the couch and sat beside her.</p>
<p>“I did, I think I talked him into it and now Mac is going to help with the tech so we can do some work out of here.”</p>
<p>“OK, how about I take both of these mermaids out to the pool and let you get something done?” Logan offered and leaned in for a kiss.</p>
<p>“Poo?” Sydney asked.</p>
<p>“Pool,” Logan repeated emphasizing the l at the end but secretly loving that she called it poo.</p>
<p>“Poo!” she clapped and hopped off her mother’s lap.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Veronica followed Logan’s back as he went to supervise the bathing suit changing, he turned back over his shoulder and smiled.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that vasectomy is definitely going to come in handy,” Veronica fanned herself.</p>
<p>“He is pretty adorable with the kids.”</p>
<p>“You say adorable, I say panty-dropping,” Veronica weighed the two on an invisible scale, hers won.</p>
<p>“OK, on to the business matter at hand,” Mac cleared her throat.</p>
<p>“Yeah, can I remote access the call forwarding? Just send the desk phones to my cell,” Veronica began, and Mac walked her through getting everything set-up.</p>
<p>Veronica already had a decent work-from-home set-up since she started pushing out the kids 2 years ago, so it was just a matter of the landlines and the mail, reaching out to the clients and sources and letting them know what was up.</p>
<p>As Mac was explaining how to RDP her dad’s ancient computer, Logan marched past with Calliope in a pink frilly suit in his arms and Sydney in a matching green frilly suit and sunglasses toddling beside them having a conversation about whether Pony could swim with them.</p>
<p>“The dog does not go in the pool!” Veronica interjected.</p>
<p>“Good luck with this stay-at-home thing,” Mac grinned.</p>
<p>***555***<br/>Late March</p>
<p>“He will be in the kitchen for at least an hour,” Veronica explained as she pulled her tee shirt off over her head.</p>
<p>“Veronica,” Logan said warily.</p>
<p>“He said he would happily keep both the girls while you worked out and I took a nap. He is teaching Sydney the art of lasagna, now strip!”</p>
<p>“What if one of the girls needs us?” Logan kept backing away from his increasingly naked wife.</p>
<p>Veronica shimmied out of her yoga pants, unsure if she had even put on underwear that day. Looking down she was pleased to find she hadn’t.</p>
<p>“He’ll text.  I promise you, he will not set foot in this room, even if the house is on fire.  And speaking of fire, I am so fucking horny,” she shook her hands out like she was warming up for something.</p>
<p>Logan just smiled at her; he was now backed up against the closet door.</p>
<p>“Fuck me, Logan,” she approached, and he knew the moment she was going to launch herself at him and caught her.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” he wrinkled his nose.</p>
<p>“You have no problem with this when he stays over after babysitting,” Veronica argued.</p>
<p>“Yeah, but that’s usually date night, I am all romantic and have had some wine,” he holds her loosely in his arms.</p>
<p>“Do I need to liquor you up? Cuz I will get the bourbon.  Now take off those pants.”</p>
<p>“You sure? Your dad kind of likes me right now, we could just wait, how long could this quarantine thing possibly last?”</p>
<p>Veronica knew he was teasing her now and she could feel how ready he was too.  Aside from a very quick quickie in their shower last week, there had been no sex in the Echolls’ home since Grandpa moved in from the pool house.</p>
<p>“OK,” Veronica hopped out of his arms and shrugged, “if you want to wait out Coronavirus…” she picked up her tee shirt and before she could even consider putting it on Logan tackled her to the bed.</p>
<p>He rolled them until she was on top and dragged her up his body so he could taste her.  She was so hot and wet already it nearly was the end of him, but he knew from years of practice that after any prolonged sex-free time it was always best to get Veronica off fast and first.</p>
<p>“That’s what I’m talking about, ungggghhhh,” she moaned deep in her throat as he worked her quickly to a trembling finish.</p>
<p>“Fuck,” she sighed as she fell off of him to lay boneless on the bed, “I needed that.”</p>
<p>Logan crawled over her now, kissing and sucking at her warm soft skin. Her nipples were tight and only got tighter as he teased them with his tongue and his breath.</p>
<p>Veronica reached out to touch him, but he batted her hand away, too close to the edge himself for any foreplay.</p>
<p>“You want this as much as I do,” she arched against him for a little friction.</p>
<p>“Always, Bobcat, always,” he assured her.</p>
<p>Veronica took control and rolled them again, so she was back on top and didn’t even wait for a beat before she sank down on him, causing them both to moan in harmony.</p>
<p>“I’d love this to be all romantic and crap, but I just need…” she dropped her head as her stomach fluttered as Logan took over and pounded up into her, “…yeah, that.  More of that,” she nodded as her whole body bounced on top of him.</p>
<p>“So good,” she ground out over and over as she switched from bouncing to rotating until she saw his eyelids flutter and the tendon in his neck that always flexes when he is trying to hold on popped.</p>
<p>Veronica knew she had another orgasm in her and she gave Logan a break as he was barely holding on, instead she reached down to touch herself and as soon as Logan saw that he was done, panting and thrusting in to her.  The combination of her own fingers and the look of absolute pleasure on Logan’s face combining with the way he said her name as he came was enough and Veronica collapsed against his chest still twitching from the aftershocks.</p>
<p>“I love you so much,” she murmured against his sweaty skin.</p>
<p>Logan rolled her underneath him and kissed all along her body, nipping at her hip and tickling behind her knee.</p>
<p>Veronica just stared at the ceiling and let him make her feel good.  They were so lucky, they had money and space and a pool and a yard and while business was slow for MI, Veronica knew they had enough money to live on forever really.  Her dad was safe with them, their friends were all safe and secure.  She had no real worries amid the greatest global crisis of her life, but it was still stressful and painful to watch on the news.  It was hard to all be together all the time.</p>
<p>“Thank god the kids are so little,” she said as Logan kissed his way back up her body and found her lips.</p>
<p>“No kids, not now,” he said as he slipped an arm under her knee and opened her up.</p>
<p>“For someone who had to be talked into this you are really making it work,” she laughed as he entered her again.</p>
<p>“I’ve missed you,” he murmured as he found the perfect angle and they both moaned.</p>
<p>“We are together 24 sssseven,” she stuttered as he increased his speed.</p>
<p>“Not like this.”</p>
<p>“Whose fault is that?” she smirked, and he reached down and trailed his fingers over her stomach, just light enough to make the muscles clench.</p>
<p>“I am man enough to admit when I am wrong,” he shrugged.</p>
<p>“You are certainly man enough,” she smiled and reached for him, he scooped her up into his lap, bringing them as close together as humanly possible.</p>
<p>“I am so happy you are here,” she said as she slowed their pace and held him close.</p>
<p>“Me too,” he said against her temple.</p>
<p>“Imagine if this happened while you were dark, what if you were in Australia and I was here alone,” she was suddenly overcome with emotion, so grateful he was safe and alive and in her arms.</p>
<p>“I hated being away from you,” he assured her and just kept on loving her.</p>
<p>After one more enthusiastic go in the shower, Logan and Veronica returned to the kitchen to find their oldest covered in tomato sauce and the baby giggling hysterically.</p>
<p>“Everything looks par for the course here,” Veronica surveyed as she stole a few shreds of mozzarella.</p>
<p>“Dinner has been a little hands-on, but we washed our hands before we started,” Keith promised.</p>
<p>“I am sure it will be delicious, should I bathe this one,” Logan pointed to Sydney.</p>
<p>“I’ll get her,” Veronica rubbed his shoulder tenderly, kissed his cheek.</p>
<p>“How was your workout, Logan?” Keith asked and Veronica cackled as her husband blushed to his ears.<br/>TBC…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Some more quarantine antics.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one is very sweet, might need a dentist....hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>***555***<br/>
Early April</p><p>“Happy Birthday, dear Calliope….” Everyone sang in harmony to the little girl celebrating her first birthday.</p><p>Veronica had ordered cupcakes delivered to Wallace and Shae’s, Dick’s and her mom and Hunter’s with candles and everyone joined on Zoom to sing and blow out a candle.  Mac had to procure her own baked goods in London, but she was wearing a party hat she still had from New Year’s Eve as she sang.</p><p>Calliope laughed and clapped and got frosting all over the laptop.</p><p>“This wasn’t the party we wanted for you, baby girl, but we’re so glad you are here,” Veronica felt sad.</p><p>“Love you Cali,” little Noah Fennel added, and Veronica hiccupped back a sob.</p><p>Logan tugged her close and kissed her temple.  </p><p>“This was great,” he whispered against her ear.</p><p>Veronica pulled herself together and took a few photos, the pictures of the laptop screen will really tell the story of Calliope’s first birthday.</p><p>Later that night as Logan put on his pajamas, Veronica asked, “Did we make a mistake?”</p><p>“Huh?” he replied articulately as he watched her smooth lotion over her legs, she was the most tanned he had ever seen her due to lots of outdoor time with the kids.</p><p>“Deciding two kids was enough, did we make a mistake?”</p><p>Logan joined her on the bed and took the lotion from her hands, finishing the job for her.</p><p>“I don’t know, why? It’s a little early to be empty-nesting, Cali can barely walk.”</p><p>“She’s 1 now, Sydney will be 3 then 4 then 5…”</p><p>“That is generally how aging goes…”</p><p>“I’m serious.  Maybe we were too drastic, maybe I should have gotten an IUD instead.”</p><p>“We have 2 beautiful healthy children and right now it seems all fun and games because we aren’t working, your dad is here to help, and we have nothing to do but take care of each other.  It won’t always be like this.  Life will go back to normal and the kids will have school and activities and we’ll have work, or you will, and I will be your trophy husband,” he laughed, and she snorted her disagreement.</p><p>“And if we do want more kids someday, we could always adopt,” he shrugged, finished with the lotion and pulling her closer.</p><p>“Yeah?” she asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” he confirmed and kissed her, softly at first but with increased enthusiasm.</p><p>“When did you become the calm rational one?” she stopped to ask.</p><p>“Around the time the Navy informed me my dramatics were not really what they were looking for,” he grinned.</p><p>“Our baby is a year old, I physically hurt,” she said as she settled against his chest and let him hold her.</p><p>“I’m sure it is harder for you physically, you literally had to ween her from your body, but from my perspective it is so cool to see them growing up.  They have personalities now.  They were beautiful babies and by all accounts healthy and easy, but now Sydney makes jokes and knows she’s funny and Cali is babbling and moving, she is getting so tall,” Logan sighed, happy.</p><p>“You’re right, which is way too common and very annoying by the way, but you are right. Sydney has an attention span now; she can sit with me and color a whole picture or help me bake.”</p><p>“We’ll have her on laundry duty in no time,” Logan teased.</p><p>“I’m hormonal and being silly,” Veronica said but her voice was thick.</p><p>“Hey, not silly,” he tilted her face up to his, kissed her softly, “not silly.”</p><p> </p><p>Mid May</p><p>“Again, Daddeeeeee, again!” Sydney squealed with delight as Veronica emerged from the hall with a pile of blankets.</p><p>Logan was on the floor in the crook of their sectional sofa, his knees pulled into his stomach.  Cali was wrapped around one of his calves, laughing and drooling on his knee and Sydney was being held aloft over his head.  He would bring her back and drop her on the couch and then grab her and flip her onto his stomach.</p><p>Keith was sitting on one end of the couch reading and looking up every now and then with a fond smile.</p><p>It was a rare rainy day in Southern California and while the male portion of the Mars/Echolls quarantine house would’ve been happy to read a book or watch a movie, even a kid-friendly movie, the female portion needed a little more activity in their day.</p><p>Veronica had already made a huge breakfast and a batch of chocolate chip cookies, which Sydney helped with, she had done 3 loads of laundry, which no one helped with and had worked on a couple cases, talking with Mac for over an hour.</p><p>Now she was thinking they could make a, “Blanket fort!” she announced.</p><p>“Yay!” Sydney cheered as Logan sat up, his abs doing all the work, moving Sydney to the floor and then plucking Cali off his legs, and kissing her drooly face.</p><p>“Although that looked fun,” Veronica wrinkled her nose at him.</p><p>“Hey, I got some ab work in and they had fun,” Logan shrugged.</p><p>“A win-win for all of us,” she openly ogled his tight tee shirt.</p><p>“It fun, Mommy,” Sydney defended her father adorably.</p><p>“Oh, I agree, any time Daddy lifts Mommy up it is lots of fun,” Veronica nodded enthusiastically, and Logan laughed as Keith made a disgruntled snort from the couch.</p><p>“Not sure I trust you two in a blanket fort,” Keith pointed at Logan and Veronica as he stood and took the blankets, this was partially his idea.</p><p>He and Veronica used to make blanket forts when Lianne was sleeping off the vodka.  It was a safe space for both of them.</p><p>“You would think after 20 years we would’ve earned a little trust, geesh” Logan shook his head dramatically as he stood.</p><p>“Is this staying?” Veronica reached up and rubbed her hand along his newly acquired beard.</p><p>“Quarantine beards are a thing,” he turned and kissed her palm.</p><p>“A sign of solidarity?”</p><p>“Or laziness, one or the other.  I never really got to grow a beard.  I couldn’t actually pull one off before I joined the Navy and then it wasn’t regulation, but I think it is coming in nicely,” he stroked it and preened for her.</p><p>“You look very rugged,” she teased.</p><p>“He look like Harry Monster,” Sydney added with a giggle.</p><p>“Harry Monster is blue, and he has giant eyebrows,” Logan held his fingers up above his eyes and wiggled them and Sydney screamed and ran behind Veronica’s legs.</p><p>“Harry Monster is very nice,” Veronica pointed out.</p><p>“Put away!” Sydney pointed at Logan’s finger eyebrows.</p><p>“Sydney?” Veronica cautioned.</p><p>“Please,” she peeked out from behind Veronica.</p><p>“Gone,” Logan held his hands up in eyebrow surrender.</p><p>“I think it is time to get this fort going,” Veronica laughed, and Logan gave her a quick kiss before snatching Sydney into his arms and setting off a new fit of giggles.</p><p>An hour later, Veronica and Logan were the only ones awake in the blanket fort.</p><p>“They all snore!” Veronica whispered with a laugh.</p><p>Cali was snuffling in her sleep curled up with Keith, who was on his back and snoring solidly.  On the other side of the fort Pony was sawing logs with Sydney who had a little whistle to her snore between her pursed lips.</p><p>“It’s adorable,” Logan looked around.</p><p>After they got the fort set up, Sydney insisted on pulling in pillows and blankets and soon it was naptime.  Veronica had been trying to keep the kids on a regular sleep schedule, but the days and nights just blended together in quarantine and the added gloom of a rainy day was too much to fight the call of a nap.</p><p>“Is it wrong that I am happy right now?” Veronica rolled on her side, her face on half of the pillow she was sharing with Logan.</p><p>“No,” he rolled to face her and cupped her cheek, kissing her, “it is never wrong to be happy.”</p><p>“Of all the horrors we’ve lived through, this one isn’t so bad.  I mean I am going a little stir crazy, but I’ve got you and Dad to help me and the girls are small and easily amused,” she held out a hand to indicate their current accommodations.</p><p>“We have plenty of space, indoors and outside, this very moment notwithstanding,” he laughed as he surveyed all 5 of them and the dog in very close quarters.</p><p>“We have access to good food and a gorgeous kitchen to cook it in, we are lucky Logan, really lucky.  I keep thinking about the apartment I lived in in New York.  If I had to shelter-in-place there I would go insane in like 3 days.  I had the flu once and almost lost my mind.”</p><p>“I know, even our last place…”</p><p>“The one Penn blew up almost killing you? Yeah I try not think about it too much.”</p><p>“Why? We had great memories there,” he pulled her closer, wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.</p><p>“You almost died…” she said the words so quietly he had to pluck them from the air.</p><p>“Well the years before that were awesome,” he grinned, “but my point is, could you imagine us there.  Even if it was just you, me and Pony.  We’d be driving each other nuts.”</p><p>“We’d just be naked constantly,” she countered.</p><p>“Ahhhh, life before kids,” he sighed.</p><p>“Cali is already one, a quarter of her life has been this quarantine,” Veronica added.</p><p>“She doesn’t know any different, she won’t remember this, and Sydney will remember it as the time we had lots of cookies and movies.”</p><p>“Want to sneak out and have sex?” Veronica suggested.</p><p>“I think we are trapped,” Logan looked and saw Pony sprawled in front of the entrance, there was no way out without waking her up.</p><p>“I’ll have to settle for a serious make out sesh then,” she grinned and attached her lips to his.</p><p>It took no time at all for the kiss to escalate and Veronica nudged Logan on to his back, throwing a leg across his hips and smiling when his eyes rolled back a little.</p><p>“I want you constantly,” he whispered.</p><p>“Me too. I thought all this togetherness would be too much, but it is really working for me,” she kissed him some more.</p><p>“I just feel so close to you. I’m so grateful and relieved we are safe, and I am just full of affection,” he looked her in the eyes and hers softened to match the love there.</p><p>“Same,” she smiled.</p><p>“I pour my heart out and all I get is ‘same’?”</p><p>“You said it perfectly, why mess with that?” she grinned and ran a hand along his bearded cheek.</p><p>“I love you,” he chuckled.</p><p>“Same,” she smirked and returned to the kissing.</p><p>After an inordinate amount of kissing time, a small movement caught Logan’s eye and they turned, to see Sydney watching.  Veronica was on Logan’s stomach, his hands at her waist under her tee shirt.</p><p>“I told you it fun,” she giggled and then launched herself at her parents.</p><p>The ensuing tickle fight ended naptime and Keith escaped the ruckus with Cali to start dinner or lunch or whatever meal they were supposed to be eating at whatever time it was.</p><p>***555***<br/>
Late June</p><p>Logan woke with a smile on his face.  It was Sunday and Sunday was “Breakfast with Grandpa” day also known as uninterrupted sex with his wife day.  They had come to a deal in late April that Saturday would be Grandpa sleep in day and Sunday would be Mommy and Daddy sleep in day.  It gave Keith a break from the early morning antics of his granddaughters and gave Logan and Veronica a morning to themselves.</p><p>Usually Sunday began with some sleepy sex and then a workout and then some more enthusiastic sex and then a joint shower and then hunger would drive them out of the bedroom by noon.  This morning, however, Logan woke up alone.</p><p>“Veronica?” he called towards the bathroom, but there was nothing.</p><p>He rolled to the bedside table and saw he had a text message from his missing wife:  Join us on the patio when you wake up.</p><p>Logan noted it was only 9:00 am, so he slipped on some pajama pants and a tee shirt and went to see what was going on.</p><p>“Daddy!!!” Sydney announced loudly and everyone on the patio looked up with a smile.  They were all wearing crowns of various colors and mardi gras beads for some reason and Sydney also had a purse over her arm.</p><p>“Good morning,” Logan smiled at the motley crew of his family.</p><p>“Happy Father’s Day,” Veronica smiled back.</p><p>“Awww,” he leaned down and scooped up Cali, “I totally forgot.”</p><p>“Days mean nothing right now, I know, but we made you and Dad all your favorites for breakfast,” Veronica stood and kissed his forehead before heading inside to get the food.</p><p>“Happy Father’s Day, Keith, thanks for raising an amazing woman,” Logan said sincerely, and Keith smiled.</p><p>“Best thing I ever did, that kid.  Thank you for my grandkids,” Keith returned the sentiment.</p><p>“Best thing I ever did,” Logan winked as Sydney climbed in his lap to show him what was in her purse.</p><p>“Acado,” she removed an avocado from her purse, an actual avocado.</p><p>“Avocado,” Logan pronounced and wondered how much produce his daughter was lugging around.</p><p>“Avcado,” she tried again.</p><p>“Closer,” he kissed her cheek and saw her bring out her toothbrush next.</p><p>“My keys,” she pulled out Veronica’s keys which hadn’t been used in months since Logan was the only one to run their few emergency errands.</p><p>“Mommy might need those again someday,” Logan cringed.</p><p>“Pony ball,” she presented a dog drool damp tennis ball next.</p><p>“Maybe we should get you a new toothbrush,” Logan frowned, and Keith laughed.</p><p>“Nothing in there is alive yet,” Keith mentioned.</p><p>“Yet,” Logan repeated.</p><p>“Breakfast!” Veronica announced as she carried a big tray with French toast and egg white omelets, bacon and fruit and avocado toast.</p><p>“Pony, fetch!” Logan called and tossed the tennis ball towards the yard.</p><p>After depositing the food and plates, Veronica returned with juice for Sydney a bottle for Cali and a big carafe of coffee for the adults.  It was warm and sunny; a perfect Southern California morning and Logan couldn’t believe this was a holiday he enjoyed now.</p><p>They spent the whole day playing in the pool and relaxing in the pool house.  Logan and Keith grilled steaks for dinner and Sydney helped Veronica make strawberry shortcake for dessert.  When Keith and the kids had gone to bed, Logan and Veronica shared a chaise lounge on the patio under the stars listening to the ocean.</p><p>“I was going to wake you up for our regular Sunday morning sex, but you were sleeping so solidly,” Veronica laughed.</p><p>“I was a little worried about where you were when I woke up alone, but it was an amazing day, thank you,” he kissed her, the constant touching and affection continued to grow as the time went by.</p><p>“Things are starting to open back up,” she said causally.</p><p>“We have nowhere to be more important than here,” he squeezed her tight.</p><p>TBC…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>More scenes from quarantine...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mid May</p><p>It was Logan’s turn for what he and Veronica affectionately called the triple B – bath, books &amp; bed.  It was an adorable little ritual that predated quarantine and allowed each of them either quality time with the kids or quality time without the kids after dinner.  It was a win win really.</p><p>Now that Sydney was getting a little bigger, the formula went like this:  Logan &amp; Sydney took care of bathing Cali and both girls climbed into Logan’s lap for Cali story time.  Sydney would lament that Cali’s books were for babies, but Logan smiled softly when Sydney stilled his hand as he tried to turn the page so she could look at all the pictures.</p><p>When books were done and Cali was snoozy, Logan would lay her in the crib and lift Sydney to turn the mobile on and he would hold his oldest daughter as they watched the baby drift off to sleep.</p><p>“And what would you like for your bath tonight?” Logan asked quietly as they closed the door to Cali’s room and headed for Logan and Veronica’s room.</p><p>“Spa, with mermaids,” Sydney said definitively as Logan dropped her on the big king-sized bed where she bounced and added a dramatic roll for good measure.</p><p>“Spa with mermaids, got it!” Logan raised a finger in the air to indicate he was on the job.</p><p>Logan and Veronica had a big whirlpool tub in their en suite and once a week, Sydney gets a super special bath in the big tub.  Some nights she wants a relaxing spa atmosphere, sometimes she wants the jets on super high and they have boat races, sometimes it is art gallery with soap crayons.</p><p>Logan left her on the bed as he ran down the hall to retrieve the mermaids and her pajamas. The linen closet near the girls’ bathroom had a whole shelf of bath toys, the mermaids were a favorite.  They had their own floating lily pads that they fit into so the tub could have a flotilla of mermaids.</p><p>Logan returned; arms full to find Sydney waiting patiently on the bed.  He was not sure what the terrible twos were supposed to be, this kid was an angel.</p><p>“Ready, little lady?” he juggled the toys and pajamas in one arm and scooped her up in the other.</p><p>Veronica kept a bottle of all-natural lavender oil in the cabinet for the girls, it helped relax them when they didn’t want to sleep, and it was great for “spa” nights.  Logan added a small amount to the tub as it filled with Sydney approved warm water.  He added a tiny bit of bubble bath so she had some suds, but the mermaids could still float, and he turned the jets on low.</p><p>“Clothes off,” Logan instructed, and Sydney stripped off her shorts and tee shirt, her tiny underwear all on the floor.</p><p>“Is that where they go?” he asked calmly.</p><p>Sydney sighed, a lot like her mother, and picked up her clothes and put them in the hamper.</p><p>“Potty?” Logan asked and Sydney nodded.</p><p>Since they were in the big bath and not the girls’ bath, there was no step stool, so Logan picked her up and settled her on the toilet.  Soon he was depositing the toddler in her well-appointed bubble bath.  Logan had a small foam pillow that wrapped around her in the big tub and kept her upright.</p><p>Once Sydney was settled, Logan set about getting the mermaids afloat.  He slipped the small plastic dolls with long brushable hair into their sponge pads and launched them towards his daughter.</p><p>“Hello, Ariel,” she said to the red-haired mermaid and “Hello, Jasmine” to the dark-haired one.  They weren’t Disney toys, but she did love her princesses.</p><p>“I think this one looks like Mommy,” Logan said as he pushed the blonde one her way.</p><p>Sydney tilted her head, looked at the toy, picked it up and considered it.</p><p>“Momma has legs,” she said as if Logan might have missed that.</p><p>“Well, sure, but if Momma were a mermaid, she would look like that,” he clarified.</p><p>“Momma mermaid,” Sydney squealed, “momma mermaid!”</p><p>Logan just chuckled and kneeled next to the tub, playing and making sure Sydney actually got clean.  When the water was cooled and the child was pruned, Logan drained the tub, used the handheld shower to rinse the kid and the tub down and plucked her from the porcelain into a soft fluffy towel.</p><p>After teeth were brushed and her bed turned down, Sydney crawled in and stretched out, taking up the whole small space.</p><p>“Where is Daddy supposed to go?” Logan said sadly.</p><p>Sydney retracted all her limbs and curled into a little ball, patting a spot for daddy.</p><p>“Much better,” he folded his long body into the toddler bed and snuggled his clean lavender-scented child before cracking open the Richard Scary book she picked out.</p><p>She always picked Richard Scary when she wanted to drag out story time, each page had a zillion little pictures to look at.  Finally, around page 10, Sydney was sound asleep.  Logan slipped out of the bed, fixed her blankets around her and kissed her forehead.  He turned off the lamp and left the door open a crack as he left.  He checked on Cali with the security monitor app on his phone and she was snuffling away in her crib.</p><p>Logan changed out of his slightly damp clothes into a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt and padded out to the living room.  Keith and Veronica had something on TV, but Keith was reading, and Veronica was on her phone playing some game.</p><p>“What are we watching?” Logan asked as he sat next to Veronica and squeezed her knee.</p><p>“Some Netflix thing, Outer Banks,” she said looking up from her game for a second.</p><p>“Is it any good?” he asked as he pulled the footstool close enough to prop up his feet.</p><p>“It’s fine,” Veronica said still looking at her phone.</p><p>For the next 10 minutes or so Logan watched, and Keith put down his book to watch as well, Veronica looked up from time to time.</p><p>“Do these kids have parents?” Logan said suddenly, “This is dangerous.”</p><p>When no one responded he turned and saw his wife and father-in-law looking at him with the same raised eyebrow look of incredulity.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Logan,” Keith said with a shake of his head.</p><p>“Oh,” Logan smiled, “yeah, I was that kid.”</p><p>“Well, not these kids, these kids are poor, but yeah you pretty much did whatever you wanted when you were that age. And it wasn’t always safe,” Veronica reminded him.</p><p>“This show is not very good,” Logan noted.</p><p>“It is very nice to look at though,” Veronica said.</p><p>Logan frowned.</p><p>“The scenery, the scenery is very pretty,” she grinned.</p><p>“Uh huh,” he nodded, “you aren’t attracted to those wild reckless teenagers at all.”</p><p>“When I have my very own formerly wild reckless teen here at home,” she laughed as she crawled into his arms.</p><p>“If you two are going to relieve your misspent youth, I am going to bed,” Keith stood.</p><p>“Goodnight Dad,” Veronica said.</p><p>“Goodnight, Mr. Mars,” Logan teased and wiggled his fingers good-bye.</p><p> </p><p>***555***<br/>
July</p><p>“Whatchya reading?” Veronica asked as she walked out on to the patio to find Logan stretched out on a chaise with Pony curled in the shade cast by the back.</p><p>“War and Peace,” he looked up from the thick book in his hands.</p><p>“Ha ha,” Veronica smirked.</p><p>“No, really,” he flipped the book around to show her the pale turquoise cover, it was in fact, War and Peace.</p><p>“Why?” she furrowed her brow.</p><p>“If not now, when,” he shrugged and took a bookmark from deep in the tome and marked his place about 50 pages in.</p><p>“Is it good?” she sat on the edge of his chair, her eyes drawn to the sweat collected in the hollow of his throat, it was hot in the sun.</p><p>“The writing is beautiful.  I am struggling with all the Russian names,” he twisted his lips.</p><p>“You should make flash cards,” she was only kind of teasing.</p><p>“In for a penny in for a pound,” he nodded.</p><p>“I could read it too, we could have a book club,” she flipped through the book and stopped to look at his bookmark.</p><p>“You still have this?” she pulled out the strip of black &amp; white pictures of the two of them taken on the pier in Santa Monica the summer before Hearst.</p><p>“Of course, I do, those were after the fire, I kept everything from then,” he shrugged.</p><p>“I didn’t find them when I moved when you were dark.  I moved all your stuff and I didn’t find these,” she looked at their faces, so young, so happy, so sure this time they would get it right.</p><p>“I had them in a safety deposit box,” he looked sheepish, “seems silly, but they mean a lot to me.”</p><p>“Yeah?” her voice was quiet.</p><p>“Yeah, do you see it?” he watched her examine the pictures.</p><p>“I was in love with you,” she smiled.</p><p>“You didn’t let your guard down much, but the camera doesn’t lie.  When I used to doubt my memories of us, when we were apart all those years, I would look at these pictures to remind myself that you did love me then and maybe again some…”</p><p>Logan didn’t get to finish as Veronica cut him off with a kiss as full of love as her eyes in those photos and as full of heat as the sweltering day.</p><p>“Where is everyone?” he said as he escalated the kiss.</p><p>“Girls are napping, just went down.”</p><p>“And?” Logan didn’t want to say Keith’s name as his hand slid up under the hem of Veronica’s cover-up.</p><p>“Just started a lunch Zoom with Cliff,” Veronica ground out between searing kisses.</p><p>Logan gracefully stood, with Veronica in his arms, her legs instinctually wrapping around his waist as he walked them across the patio to the pool house.  It was slightly cooler in there, shaded as it was with the windows all open to move the air from the ocean through.</p><p>There was a couch that pulled out, where Keith had stayed for his first 2 weeks of quarantine way back in March, but Logan didn’t bother pulling it out, he just grabbed the light weight throw and laid it over the cushions.</p><p>“I loved you then,” Veronica confessed.</p><p>“I know,” he pulled the filmy gauzy cover up from her bikini clad body as she untied his board shorts.</p><p>“I loved you, always, even when I said I didn’t or when I truly didn’t want to.  I loved you more than I could actually comprehend,” the words kept pouring out of her as Logan untied the strings of her bikini top.</p><p>“And now?” he prompted as he slipped his hand into the bottom of her bathing suit, finding her more than ready.</p><p>“Please, Logan,” she was in no mood for teasing, she needed him.</p><p>Logan tugged her bathing suit to the side and pulled his own down enough to join their bodies.</p><p>“Unghhhh,” she exhaled as she settled on to him, full of him, full of love.</p><p>Logan planted his feet, his knees coming up to support her back and give him some leverage and he thrust up into her.  Veronica’s head tipped back, her throat moving with her moans. He reached up and pulled her top aside, the strings already untied earlier, and he palmed her breast, squeezed and she shifted, her head tipping back down, her hair falling over her shoulders against his arm.</p><p>She moved on top of him, rotating as she rose and fell, chanting his name as she sped up.  Logan took his hand from her breast, licked his fingers and trailed the wet tips over her nipples, the breeze from the beach puckering them instantly.  His fingers continued down her body, her eyes followed them down to where their bodies were joined.</p><p>“So close,” she whispered as she tilted further forward, shifting the angle and trapping his hand between them, right where she wanted it.</p><p>Logan leaned up to kiss her, all tongue and teeth and swallowed cries of pleasure as Veronica came apart on top of him.  </p><p>When she finished and pulled back to gulp some air she saw it then, the love in his eyes, the love that was in that strip of pictures, the love she sees every morning when she wakes up and every night when she goes to bed.</p><p>“Love you, so much,” she said, her voice hoarse from her orgasm.</p><p>She put her hands on his chest and slowed herself down, drawing each thrust out until she felt his thighs tense under her.  She stretched out, kissed his lips, kissed his jaw, his cheek and then whispered in his ear.</p><p>“Love you, so much,” and that finished him.</p><p>“Fuck, Veronica,” he huffed in her hair as she wrapped her arms around his sweaty neck.</p><p>He kissed her temple, hair damp and hot and rolled them onto their sides for a second to catch their breath.  There wasn’t much time for post-coital snuggles in the middle of the day with the whole family in quarantine, but he wanted to hold her for a second and digest all the emotion of the past few minutes.</p><p>“I love you too,” he squeezed her tight and she laughed, pure and happy.</p><p>“Want to swim?” she started to peel their sweaty bodies apart, righting their swimsuits and shaking out the blanket before tossing it in the outdoor laundry.</p><p>“You are so tan,” Logan noted as he kissed the tan lines on her shoulder as he retied the bikini.</p><p>“Never spent quite so much time outside, ever,” she turned in his arms and kissed him tenderly.</p><p>Veronica stepped out of his arms and hooked her thumb to the bathroom; I’ll meet you in the pool.</p><p>Logan straightened up the room and headed back out into the hot day, the sun extra bright after the shade of the pool house.  He checked on the kids via his phone app and saw Cali snoring away and Sydney sprawled like a starfish, her own breathing fluttering her hair.  Logan did not check on Keith, but he was certainly welcome to emerge at any time now that the afternoon delight of the day had passed.</p><p>Logan chugged some water from his bottle near his seat, refilled Pony’s bowl and then strolled over and dove into the deep end of the pool.  He floated there calmly, his limbs spread out like his older daughter, feeling the cool water caress him.</p><p>He heard the door from the pool house smack closed and knew Veronica would be joining him soon.  He lifted his head to see her placing two towels on the foot of his chaise, finishing the water in his bottle and smearing some sunscreen on her face.  She smiled over at him and he indicated his nose and she realized she still had a big streak of white sunscreen there and rubbed it in.</p><p>She slipped off her flip flops and walked gingerly along the hot patio, eschewing the longer walk to the shallow end and diving in as soon as she got to the edge.</p><p>Veronica swam under Logan and emerged near the other edge where a float sat on the far side of the patio.  She tugged it into the water and flipped it over so both sides cooled off.</p><p>“Join me?” she pushed the float towards Logan.</p><p>He just smiled and pulled himself onto it first, before helping her up and into his arms.  Their shared weight tested the buoyancy of it, but the result was their legs were still in the water which kept them nice and cool, while most of their bodies stayed afloat.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re reading War and Peace,” she chuckled against his chest as they floated towards the shady side of the pool.</p><p>“Why? I’ve always liked to read.”</p><p>“True, you always had a book around,” she remembered.</p><p>“It was the easiest way to escape my own reality,” he shrugged.</p><p>Veronica just nodded; her wet hair cool against his warming skin.</p><p>“I took a Russian Lit class at Hearst, lots of great brooding and angst you know? But we read Anna Karenina for our Tolstoy and I never got around to reading War &amp; Peace.  I read a few chunky novels on deployment, but now seemed like a good time to tackle this.”</p><p>“You are a constant source of surprise,” she turned and kissed his cheek.</p><p>Just as they got comfortable, a squawk emerged from Logan’s phone.  Both parents froze and waited to see if the child in question would settle back down.</p><p>“Daaaa daaaa,” Cali called half cry half question.</p><p>“Looks like you are getting the nod,” Veronica turned and unceremoniously pushed him in the pool.</p><p>“Not nice,” he said as he surfaced, shaking his longer-than-normal quarantine hair.</p><p>He brushed it back and it swirled into perfect locks and Veronica could only stare as he pushed himself up and out of the pool with barely any effort.</p><p>Keith came out a moment later with Cali content in his arms.</p><p>“I was just heading out when I heard her, wanted to save you the trip,” Keith smiled.</p><p>“Thank you, how’s Cliff?”</p><p>“Hanging in there,” Keith said as he handed the baby off to Logan.</p><p>Cali scrunched up her face and contracted her body at being hugged by her wet father.</p><p>“Sorry, baby, it was pool time,” he kissed the little girl’s forehead and like all girls she warmed up to Logan quickly.</p><p>“I changed her diaper but wasn’t sure if you wanted her in the pool, so no bathing suit,” Keith said already dunking himself in the pool.</p><p>Sydney then began babbling over the baby monitor app and Logan wrapped a towel around his waist.</p><p>“I’ll be back with the bathing beauties,” he patted his leg and Pony followed him into the cool of the AC.</p><p>Keith swam over to where Veronica was still reclined on the float.</p><p>“Thank you,” he said simply.</p><p>“For what?” Veronica turned her head in his direction.</p><p>“For letting me stay here this long.  I never thought,” he shook his head.</p><p>“Who could’ve thought,” she shrugged.</p><p>“Well, it has been wonderful being here.  I wasn’t sure, you know, if all of us under one roof would work, but it has been wonderful.”</p><p>“It has been a big help to us to have you here, to help with the girls and all the cooking,” Veronica sighed at how much cooking has been needed during this lock down time, “and to know you are safe.”</p><p>Keith just nodded and swam a few lengths of the pool.</p><p>When Logan re-emerged, Keith and Veronica were discussing a case on the steps of the pool in the shade.   Logan had one child in each arm and the dog in tow, he also had a soft cooler hanging off one shoulder.</p><p>“I brought snacks!” he smiled.</p><p>“I love that man,” Veronica told Keith with a grin.</p><p>TBC…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have read War and Peace, it is very long but extremely beautiful.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Sports Ball</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Some male bonding....</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>July 24 </p>
<p>“Whatchya watching?” Veronica asked as she balanced her plate of cookies and glass of milk.</p>
<p>“Baseball is back, baby!” Keith clapped his hands together.</p>
<p>“Really?” she frowned, “is that safe?”</p>
<p>“I guess, they’ve been planning it for months,” Keith shrugged.</p>
<p>Veronica watched and saw the pitcher for the Padres throw a strike right down the middle and the crowd roared.</p>
<p>“Are there people there?” she squeaked.</p>
<p>“No,” Logan said as he stole a cookie from her late and she slapped his hand.</p>
<p>Logan just waggled his eyebrows at her and bit into the homemade snickerdoodle.</p>
<p>Strike 2 elicited another cheer from the phantom crowd.</p>
<p>“This is weird,” Veronica muttered as she ate a cookie.</p>
<p>“I haven’t seen a baseball game since last September,” Keith muttered.</p>
<p>“I’m not criticizing,” Veronica smiled.</p>
<p>“You kind of are,” Logan reached for another cookie and she gave him a glare, “you made like 10 dozen.”</p>
<p>“I made 3 dozen,” she corrected, “and I am not criticizing, I am just commenting.”</p>
<p>“Potato potahto,” Keith turned up the volume.</p>
<p>The three of them watched for a couple of innings, Veronica shared her cookies with both of them and even went and got a few more.</p>
<p>Somewhere around inning 4 Keith sighed, “this is weird.”</p>
<p>Logan just laughed.</p>
<p>“Right?” Veronica threw her hands up in victory.</p>
<p>“In real life a dozen people would’ve thrown themselves on that foul ball that went into the stands, having it just drop in there with no one, is weird.”</p>
<p>“Padres are winning though,” Logan pointed to the score on the screen.</p>
<p>“True, a win is a win,” Keith smiled at his son-in-law.</p>
<p>September 13</p>
<p>Veronica emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered after getting soaked by Sydney at bath time.</p>
<p>“Whatchya watching?” she asked as she rubbed lotion into her hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Football is back, baby!”</p>
<p>“Not this again.  Fake crowd noise?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.</p>
<p>“Yes, but it’ll be less weird, no foul balls.”</p>
<p>“Uh huh.  I need cookies,” she said as she headed for the kitchen.</p>
<p>“Bring me some?” Logan batted his eyelashes at her.</p>
<p>She threw him a wink.</p>
<p>When she returned the commentators were going on and on about the new stadium in LA and the ambient crowd noise played in the background as the Rams played the Cowboys.</p>
<p>“This feels relatively normal,” Veronica nodded.</p>
<p>“It’s pretty good,” Keith agreed.</p>
<p>Veronica traded in the cookies for a bowl of tortilla chips and salsa and handed out bottles of beer and the three of them cheered on the Rams.  During a commercial break, some ad for protein powder full of jacked guys in a gym made Veronica chuckle.</p>
<p>“Logan took weightlifting as a class in college,” she mentioned randomly.</p>
<p>“More useful than Economics,” Keith shrugged.</p>
<p>“I got Phys Ed credit for that class FYI, what exactly did you take for Phys Ed, Advanced Frowning?” he poked her side and she frowned on cue as Keith snorted.</p>
<p>“If you must know, I took fencing,” she said haughtily.</p>
<p>“Of course, the most aggressive of the chichi school athletics, not rowing or squash thank God,” he smirked at her.</p>
<p>“How did this get turned around on me?” she stole the bowl of tortilla chips and held them to her chest.</p>
<p>“You were comparing me to those guys in the protein powder ad, it’s good stuff by the way,” he reached around the web of her arms to swipe a chip.</p>
<p>“This game is endless,” she moaned as she put the chips back on the coffee table and started wriggling around eventually producing her bra from one sleeve of her tee shirt.</p>
<p>“If you can do that with the bottom half, I will buy you a Porsche,” Logan arched an eyebrow at her as she tossed the bra at him.</p>
<p>“Oh look, halftime, I am going to make a sandwich,” Keith left them to their flirty fighting.</p>
<p>***555***<br/>Later in September</p>
<p>“More sports, which one is this?” Veronica groaned as she sipped a glass of wine.</p>
<p>“Basketball, you know this one Veronica, Wallace coaches it,” Keith grinned at her.</p>
<p>Keith was at one end of the couch and Logan the other, a variety of snacks laid out tonight.  Veronica took Keith’s chair in the corner and cracked open the Stephen King book she was reading.</p>
<p>“Still no fans in the stands, right?” Veronica asked out of curiosity.</p>
<p>“Yeah, but these players are in a bubble, so it is the safest of the sports right now.  They have fans zoomed in,” Logan explained.</p>
<p>“Still weird.”</p>
<p>“Weird times, kiddo,” Keith added.</p>
<p>“Wow, that was cool,” Logan smiled widely.</p>
<p>“It was, but in my day, they had a little thing called travelling,” Keith groused good-naturedly.</p>
<p>“That ball was made of wooly mammoth hide though, right?” Logan teased and Keith laughed.</p>
<p>Veronica looked up her two knuckleheads with a smile.</p>
<p>“What did his shirt say?” Veronica asked.</p>
<p>“They all have Black Lives Matter and other social justice sayings where their names should be and their names at the bottom,” Logan paused the live game at a good moment to show her.</p>
<p>“Cool,” she nodded, “really cool.”</p>
<p>“They actually held up the whole play-off series with a strike, got ownership to open up arenas as extra polling places and demanded ads about how and where to vote be played during the game,” Keith added.</p>
<p>“Wow,” her eyes went wide.</p>
<p>When the game started back up, Veronica went back to her book.  She toughed it out for a quarter, but while it was fun listening to Logan and her Dad chat, the squeaking of sneakers on court was grating on her.</p>
<p>“I’m taking my book to bed,” she stood and stretched.</p>
<p>“Yeah?” Logan wrinkled his forehead.</p>
<p>“Enjoy the game, I’ll be awake when you come back, but if not…wake me up,” she winked and kissed his forehead.</p>
<p>“OK,” he nodded and wondered if this was some trap, if he was supposed to pick bed over the game, but she smiled sweetly and wished her dad a good night.</p>
<p>The game was fantastic, and the Lakers won, so when Logan slipped into their dark bedroom, he was too jazzed up to think about sleeping.  It was too dark for Veronica to be reading, but it still wasn’t late.  Logan went to the bathroom, washed up and brushed his teeth and in nothing but his boxers slipped into bed.</p>
<p>“You awake?” he asked quietly as his hands found nothing but bare skin.</p>
<p>“Mmmhmmm,” she murmured sleepily.</p>
<p>“You naked?’ he kissed her shoulder already knowing the answer and using one hand to level the playing field, kicking his boxers to the foot of the bed.</p>
<p>“Can’t sneak anything past you, you must be a spy or something,” she turned in his arms and gave him a long slow kiss.</p>
<p>He went to roll onto his back, and she tugged him back towards her, over her, in the darkness of the room Logan’s eyes looked black and Veronica’s looked like the sky right before it gets full dark.</p>
<p>Logan used his hands and his lips to tell her how happy he was to find her naked in their bed and when his fingers reached down to see how ready she was he groaned to find her warm and wet.</p>
<p>“That game went on forever,” she complained with a pout, “I had to use my imagination.”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah? Should I leave you alone, let you finish?” he grinned, and she leaned up to nip at his bottom lip.</p>
<p>“Better with you,” she shrugged one shoulder.</p>
<p>“Excellent,” he laughed as he joined their bodies together and swallowed her moan with a deep kiss.</p>
<p>Veronica curled her legs around his hips and arched against each thrust, long slow strokes that caused the headboard to thump rhythmically against the wall.  The wall that was shared with an empty guest room on the other side thankfully.</p>
<p>“So good,” she purred as she flicked her tongue against Logan’s ear lobe, sucking it into her mouth.</p>
<p>“Fuck,” he groaned against her neck and picked up the pace, the headboard going double time, “love you so much.”</p>
<p>Veronica held on tighter.</p>
<p>Logan used his impressive arms to keep his weight off Veronica when he finished, but she pulled him down, let him press her body deeper into he mattress and kissed his temple over and over until he caught his breath and rolled over, pulling her on top of him.</p>
<p>“Can I ask you a question?” she said as he trailed his hands over the landscape of her bare back.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” his voice was soft and sweet.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know you liked sports,” she put her chin on his chest and looked up at his face.</p>
<p>“That wasn’t a question,” he smirked.</p>
<p>“Were you hiding your affection for sports from me?” she reframed it.</p>
<p>“Not really, I didn’t realize I liked sports quite this much.  I never really had anyone to share that with,” he shrugged.  “My dad hated sports.  I mean he’d go to a Lakers Game to end up on TV, but he thought sports were boorish and beneath us.  I never got to play sports growing up, which is why I had to take a PE course in college, FYI, no sports to fill that credit.”</p>
<p>“What about the Navy?”</p>
<p>“We play touch football and the occasional shirtless volleyball game…” Veronica snorted, and he pinched her side.  “We’ll watch a game here and there on base and if we are on tour for the Super Bowl they beam it out to us, but these past few months watching with your dad, it has been special Veronica.”</p>
<p>Veronica shifted off his body to lie next to him, sharing his pillow, reaching out to trace her fingers over his beautiful face.</p>
<p>“Which one do you like the most?” </p>
<p>Logan laughed, it was not what he expected her to say, but that was his Veronica.</p>
<p>“They are all different, baseball is slow and relaxing, football is strategic and brutal, basketball is fast and frenetic.  I like them all,” he wrinkled his nose.</p>
<p>“I’m glad you are finding yourself, Logan. I mean you clearly found yourself years ago in all the big ways, but these little things are important too.  You are so fucking special,” she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.</p>
<p>The next morning, Veronica woke alone.  She shuffled to the kitchen, poured coffee and went in search of her family.  Keith was on the back patio with his own coffee and a plate with the remnants of some toast on it.  Further down the yard she could see Logan on the beach with the girls, Cali strapped to his back and Sydney running around in and out of the waves.</p>
<p>“They are at it early,” Veronica noted as she sat next to her dad.</p>
<p>“Sydney was watching the ocean video, she wants to find a crab,” Keith laughed and they both watched as Logan crouched down and pointed at something.</p>
<p>“He’s so good with them,” she smiled.</p>
<p>“He is,” Keith agreed.</p>
<p>“And you are really great with him,” Veronica said as she sipped her coffee.</p>
<p>“Your husband is a grown man,” Keith noted.</p>
<p>“I am well aware of that, well aware,” she waggled her eyebrows and he frowned at her.</p>
<p>“Seriously, I know he is a grown man, but he never had a dad, not a real one and it means a lot to me that you are trying,” she fluttered her free hand in a way that indicated she was not enjoying the emotional chatting.</p>
<p>Keith looked confused.</p>
<p>“He likes watching sports with you, he never had that, and you gave him that and thank you.”</p>
<p>“No thanks necessary, it is nice for me too,” Keith leaned over and kissed her cheek.</p>
<p>TBC,,,</p>
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